scholarly journals The Complex Affective Scene Set (COMPASS): Solving the Social Content Problem in Affective Visual Stimulus Sets

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariann R. Weierich ◽  
Olena Kleshchova ◽  
Jenna K. Rieder ◽  
Danielle M. Reilly

Social information, including faces and human bodies, holds special status in visual perception generally, and in visual processing of complex arrays such as real-world scenes specifically. To date, unbalanced representation of social compared with nonsocial information in affective stimulus sets has limited the clear determination of effects as attributable to, or independent of, social content. We present the Complex Affective Scene Set (COMPASS), a set of 150 social and 150 nonsocial naturalistic affective scenes that are balanced across valence and arousal dimensions. Participants (n = 847) rated valence and arousal for each scene. The normative ratings for the 300 images together, and separately by social content, show the canonical boomerang shape that confirms coverage of much of the affective circumplex. COMPASS adds uniquely to existing visual stimulus sets by balancing social content across affect dimensions, thereby eliminating a potentially major confound across affect categories (i.e., combinations of valence and arousal). The robust special status of social information persisted even after balancing of affect categories and was observed in slower rating response times for social versus nonsocial stimuli. The COMPASS images also match the complexity of real-world environments by incorporating stimulus competition within each scene. Together, these attributes facilitate the use of the stimulus set in particular for disambiguating the effects of affect and social content for a range of research questions and populations.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Orticio ◽  
Louis Martí ◽  
Celeste Kidd

People rely heavily on information from the social world to inform their real-world beliefs. We ask whether the perceived prevalence of a belief, divorced from any direct evidence, serves as an independent cue in belief updating. Using real-world pseudoscientific and conspiratorial claims, our experiment (N = 403 American adults) shows that increases in people’s estimates of the prevalence of a belief led to increases in their endorsement of said belief. Belief change was most dramatic when initial beliefs were most uncertain and when novel prevalence information was most convincing, suggesting that people weigh social information rationally with other information sources. We discuss the implications of our results in the context of online misinformation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Kosonogov ◽  
José M. Martínez-Selva ◽  
Ginesa Torrente ◽  
Eduvigis Carrillo-Verdejo ◽  
Juan Sánchez-Navarro

Abstract This study explored the effect of the perceived social content of affective pictures on the subjective evaluation of affective valence and arousal. For this purpose, we established three categories of social content (pictures without people, with one person and with two or more people). A sample of 161 subjects rated 200 pictures varying in affective valence (unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant), arousal and social content. Results of two-factor analysis of variance, F(4, 157) = 71.7, p < .001, η p 2 = .31, showed that perceived social content influenced the ratings of affective valence, specially for unpleasant pictures, with the greatest social content (two or more people) leading subjects to rate unpleasant pictures with the lowest ratings (all pairwise comparisons’ p < .001). Regarding arousal, F(4, 157) = 64.0, p < .001, η p 2 = .29), the higher the social content, the higher the arousal ratings, but only for pleasant (all pairwise comparisons’ p < .007) and unpleasant (all pairwise comparisons’ p < .001) pictures. Overall, this study demonstrated an effect of the perceived social content on the subjective evaluation of affective valence and arousal of emotional stimuli.


2020 ◽  
pp. 22-38
Author(s):  
Natalia Guseva ◽  
Vitaliy Berdutin

At present, the problem of establishing disability is a point at issue in Russia. Despite the fact that medical criteria for disability are being developed very actively, high-quality methods for assessing social hallmarks are still lacking. Since disability is a phenomenon inherent in any society, each state forms a social and economic policy for people with disabilities in accordance with its level of development, priorities and opportunities. We have proposed a three-stage model, which includes a system for the consistent solution of the main tasks aimed at studying the causes and consequences of the problems encountered today in the social protection of citizens with health problems. The article shows why the existing approaches to the determination of disability and rehabilitation programs do not correspond to the current state of Russian society and why a decrease in the rate of persons recognized as disabled for the first time does not indicate an improvement in the health of the population. The authors proposed a number of measures with a view to correcting the situation according to the results of the study.


Author(s):  
Е.Н. Юдина

интернет-пространство стало частью реального мира современных студентов. В наши дни особенно актуальна проблема активизации использования интернета как дополнительного ресурса в образовательном процессе. В статье приводятся результаты небольшого социологического исследования, посвященного использованию интернета в преподавании социологических дисциплин. Internet space has become a part of the real world of modern students. The problem of increasing the use of the Internet as an additional resource in the educational process is now particularly topical. The article contains the results of a small sociological study on the use of the Internet in teaching sociological disciplines.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Zaoli ◽  
Piero Mazzarisi ◽  
Fabrizio Lillo

AbstractBetweenness centrality quantifies the importance of a vertex for the information flow in a network. The standard betweenness centrality applies to static single-layer networks, but many real world networks are both dynamic and made of several layers. We propose a definition of betweenness centrality for temporal multiplexes. This definition accounts for the topological and temporal structure and for the duration of paths in the determination of the shortest paths. We propose an algorithm to compute the new metric using a mapping to a static graph. We apply the metric to a dataset of $$\sim 20$$ ∼ 20 k European flights and compare the results with those obtained with static or single-layer metrics. The differences in the airports rankings highlight the importance of considering the temporal multiplex structure and an appropriate distance metric.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-82
Author(s):  
Joseph Cesario

Abstract This article questions the widespread use of experimental social psychology to understand real-world group disparities. Standard experimental practice is to design studies in which participants make judgments of targets who vary only on the social categories to which they belong. This is typically done under simplified decision landscapes and with untrained decision makers. For example, to understand racial disparities in police shootings, researchers show pictures of armed and unarmed Black and White men to undergraduates and have them press "shoot" and "don't shoot" buttons. Having demonstrated categorical bias under these conditions, researchers then use such findings to claim that real-world disparities are also due to decision-maker bias. I describe three flaws inherent in this approach, flaws which undermine any direct contribution of experimental studies to explaining group disparities. First, the decision landscapes used in experimental studies lack crucial components present in actual decisions (Missing Information Flaw). Second, categorical effects in experimental studies are not interpreted in light of other effects on outcomes, including behavioral differences across groups (Missing Forces Flaw). Third, there is no systematic testing of whether the contingencies required to produce experimental effects are present in real-world decisions (Missing Contingencies Flaw). I apply this analysis to three research topics to illustrate the scope of the problem. I discuss how this research tradition has skewed our understanding of the human mind within and beyond the discipline and how results from experimental studies of bias are generally misunderstood. I conclude by arguing that the current research tradition should be abandoned.


1983 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 354-354
Author(s):  
Bruce W. Hamill ◽  
Robert A. Virzi

This investigation addresses the problem of attention in the processing of symbolic information from visual displays. Its scope includes the nature of attentive processes, the structural properties of stimuli that influence visual information processing mechanisms, and the manner in which these factors interact in perception. Our purpose is to determine the effects of configural feature structure on visual information processing. It is known that for stimuli comprising separable features, one can distinguish between conditions in which only one relevant feature differs among stimuli in the array being searched and conditions in which conjunctions of two (or more) features differ: Since the visual process of conjoining separable features is additive, this fact is reflected in search time as a function of array size, with feature conditions yielding flat curves associated with parallel search (no increase in search time across array sizes) and conjunction conditions yielding linearly increasing curves associated with serial search. We studied configural-feature stimuli within this framework to determine the nature of visual processing for such stimuli as a function of their feature structure. Response times of subjects searching for particular targets among structured arrays of distractors were measured in a speeded visual search task. Two different sets of stimulus materials were studied in array sizes of up to 32 stimuli, using both tachistoscope and microcomputer-based CRT presentation for each. Our results with configural stimuli indicate serial search in all of the conditions, with the slope of the response-time-by-array-size function being steeper for conjunction conditions than for feature conditions. However, for each of the two sets of stimuli we studied, there was one configuration that stood apart from the others in its set in that it yielded significantly faster response times, and in that conjunction conditions involving these particular stimuli tended to cluster with the feature conditions rather than with the other conjunction conditions. In addition to these major effects of particular targets, context effects also appeared in our results as effects of the various distractor sets used; certain of these context effects appear to be reversible. The effects of distractor sets on target search were studied in considerable detail. We have found interesting differences in visual processing between stimuli comprising separable features and those comprising configural features. We have also been able to characterize the effects we have found with configural-feature stimuli as being related to the specific feature structure of the target stimulus in the context of the specific feature structure of distractor stimuli. These findings have strong implications for the design of symbology that can enhance visual performance in the use of automated displays.


Litera ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 38-55
Author(s):  
Rivaa Mukhammad Salem Alsalibi

The subject of this research is the specifics, forms and functions of interaction in social media groups between the representatives of ethnic communities. The goal consists in determination of the role of social networks in adaptation of ethnocultural communities of St. Petersburg. The research is based on the polling technique for acquisition of information on the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral state of a person. The survey was conducted via distribution of questionnaires among the representatives of ethnic groups. The article also employs the method of systematic scientific observation over the social media groups, topic raised therein, as well as reading and analysis of the comments. The scientific novelty of this work consists in outlining of the nature, trends and development prospects of cross-cultural communications as the channel for ethnocultural interaction. &nbsp;The main conclusions, which touch upon users from various ethnic communities who do not have enough experience in organization of activity of social media groups, demonstrate that it causes the loss of the sense of security, accumulation of prejudices and escalation of interethnic conflicts, as well as preference of the with restricted access, which contributes to lock down of the group and impedes adaptation in the accepting society. Stabilization of situation can be achieved by improvement of the quality of content posted in the social media, as well as level of their administration.


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